Freedom in Isolation

by Rorquals

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The physical release for this EP are limited edition individually numbered CDs that come in a recycled card case, with the inlay designed and put together by myself. The first and possibly only physical run of these CDs will be limited to only 30 copies so grab one whilst you can.

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Full Digital Discography

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Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Live Recording Archive, THE NIGHT BLOOMS Original Film Score, The Hands of Moirai, PURIFYSEVERCORRUPT, Improvised Experiments Volume One, Parallel Souls, Ascend, ROOM 301 Original Film Score, and 9 more. , and , .

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1.	Gabriel 03:29	buy track
2.	Dorset Wind Chimes 06:33	buy track
3.	Ħsejjes ta' Malta 05:52	buy track
4.	Freedom in Isolation 07:03	buy track
5.	Nineteen Voices 07:26	buy track

about

This EP was inspired by captured moments in time, created from a collection of lo-fi recorded memories that naturally evolved into cinematic soundscapes of human emotion.

Written and recorded at home during June and July 2020 whilst we were in the midst of the global Covid-19 pandemic, I was determined to take full advantage of the time that isolation bestowed upon me in the most positive and creative way I could.

I used various phone recordings I had made over the last year as the basis and inspiration of each of the pieces -

Gabriel - Whilst visiting my Mother in Law in West Bay, Dorset, my wife Elyza and I were noodling round on the family piano with a piece I'd just written, Elyza playing a melody over the top. In the background you can hear our nephew Gabriel talking to his Dad and Nanny. I tried rerecording this piece several times 'properly', but it never came out as I'd hoped. The accidental addition of Gabriel in background added an innocent beauty that just had to be part of the piece.

Dorset Wind Chimes - In the garden of my Mother in Laws house in Dorset was this wonderful set of wind chimes. They were the first sound to greet you as you arrived walking down the garden path and the final sound as you were leaving. I recorded them on our last visit to the house before my Mary moved back to Essex - and then wrote the slow piano melody to accompany them.

Ħsejjes ta' Malta (Sounds of Malta) - Malta is my second home. My Mum is Maltese so I have been going there since I was 6 months old. On our last visit as we travelled round I made various field recordings with the aim to create a piece that celebrated my Maltese heritage. You can hear Uterus Hodie Virginie Floruit by Brigitte Lesne being played in the Cathedral of the Assumption on Gozo, fireworks, church bells and water fountains in Mellieha during the Festa, as well as recordings of waves crashing on the coast and old windmills in farming fields. The spoken word in Maltese was kindly recorded by my Mum, recalling childhood memories of giggling with her siblings whilst my Nannu (Grand Dad) was trying to say the Rosary, of him cooking Lampuki pie, and my Mum and Nanna saying prayers together. Thank you Mum!

Freedom in Isolation - Recorded on a dreary rainy morning in June lock down, this piano piece was written on the family piano (which now resides in our shed after the move from Dorset). I recorded it straight onto my field recorder so you could hear the ambience of the rain lashing down on the roof above, as well as it pinging on metal objects in the garden and the birds happily singing in the rain. The piece was still lacking something so I called in my incredibly talented wife Elyza (of the band Whom by Fire) to see if she could create some vocal magic. After listening to the piece a couple of times she proceeded to lay down two separate melodies, each with two harmonies, all in the space of about 15 minutes. What a pro and she absolutely makes the piece! Thank you baby!

Nineteen Voices - Based around a piano out take from the same session as Freedom in Isolation, I had slowed this recording down by half. It sounded awesome but I just couldn't get it to fit with that piece, so I decided to use it to create another. The voices you hear are people from around the world being interviewed about the impact that Covid-19 has had on them personally. The only acceptions to this are Vladimir Putin stating 'with God's help, the Russian people will get through this', and the Dalai Lama stating how much he appreciates the sacrifices of the members of the medical profession. I wanted to subtly incorporate this subject into a piece without it being too obvious.

The last few months have been very strange - I haven't been so long without rehearsing in a studio or gigging since I first started playing music at the age of 16. This in turn has made my last recordings quite different from the big Rorquals guitar sound. But I really feel that Freedom in Isolation stands up as a further exploration and evolution into the Rorquals sound. It really is a joy being experimental, learning new techniques and challenging myself - as well as doing everything from home, and I really hope that you enjoy listening to this as much as I did creating it.

Cheers, Rob.

Live bookings / information - facebook.com/Rorquals

Official recordings physical and digital - Rorquals.bandcamp.com

credits

released September 3, 2020

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Rorquals Southend On Sea, UK

Rorquals is the project of Essex based experimental musician and composer Robert Mells - Utilising amplified guitar, organ, electronics and field recordings to create honest and intense compositions merging drone, ambient, electronica, noise and film score work. ... more

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